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The power of hackathons in government

June 29, 2012 by Ali Llewellyn

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space apps

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Hackathons

Participation

RHoK

Chris Vein (US deputy CTO for government innovation) has continually supported the use of hackathons in developing government innovation. He noted that these events were exceptional as a ‘sensemaking’ tool for government, encouraging agencies to “…find groups of people, bring them together around an issue or problem that needs to be fixed, then step out of the way and let the collective energy of the people in the room come together and really take that data and solve things in creative and imaginative ways that we would never have done ourselves.”

So what does that mean for us at NASA?

We are constantly on the lookout for game-changing ideas and technologies – and hackathons can often be the source of exactly those kinds of new ideas. We’re committed to provide for the widest practicable and appropriate dissemination of information concerning our activities and the results thereof – and hackathons frequently show us insights and applications that we never would have imagined coming from our own work. These technology development events don’t give us all the answers – but they engage the public in exploration of our data and our challenges in creative and compelling ways, sparking a flame that just might become something big and powerful. A hackathon isn’t a product, it’s an approach – and the key to using this “tool in the toolkit” successfully is to invest the effort to identify the right problem statements, provide the supporting data, and get a good mix of people in the room.

NASA offers a singular perspective on and understanding of our universe and our Earth’s place in it. With an enormous amount of remote sensing data, Earth observation imagery, and technological expertise, hackathons provides a platform and resources to help equip volunteers to address those global problems, creating a forum for mass collaboration around open data.

NYC’s Chief Digital Officer Rachel Sterne noted that mass collaborations bridge sectors and connect the government and technology communities with a shared challenge, encouraging collaborative problem solving and a more open government. Monetized competitions often aren’t able to access these same benefits. Hackathons are incredibly effective at building community; making and creating together forges deep and powerful connections across people, communities, and organizations.

Hackathons also feature an open design process, equipping developers directly with the data that they need and clearly demonstrating what the public wants and needs. The commitment to open, agile development and open source licensing – as opposed to a more compartmentalized procurement process – produces a product better connected to the agency’s original need as well as to the public’s interest and expertise.

The process of a hackathon provides a fundamentally different product because it engages a full community of citizens who purposely collaborate in the real work of their government – in this case, the work of “reaching for new heights and revealing the unknown.” Hackathons create a mechanism for the public to share feedback and ideas via access to government decision makers. Creative and innovative concepts are introduced that help evolve government to be more efficient and effective. “Politics is not changing; government is changing, and because government ultimately derives its power from us (remember we the people) how we think about it is going to affect how that change happens.” explained Code for America’s Jennifer Pahlka.

Events like the International Space Apps Challenge really do represent how a new generation is tackling the challenges of government: with collective action. The future of government requires engaged citizens who are contributing their skills and talents to the core mission of exploring the unknown and pioneering the future. The key to improving life on Earth – and enabling us to explore further into the universe – is to roll up our sleeves, do it together, and then let it go viral, just like Jennifer describes. NASA needs technology to tackle the grand challenges it faces – but it also needs policy specialists, engineers, storytellers, educators, and diverse perspectives.

Jake Levitas concludes: “Hackathons are incredibly effective at creating accountability. Part of the power of prototypes and community-building are that they drive conversation around what is possible. If a picture is worth a thousand words, a working demo and a team to stand behind it are worth a hundred thousand. The Government 2.0 movement has not just offered promise about how technology can reshape government, it has completely and rapidly reformed the very notion of government and citizen engagement, offering a fully novel suite of previously unimaginable civic tools for government and citizens alike… There are certainly limitations to the value that can be produced in 48 hours, no matter how numerous or how talented the people are in the room. But the fact that this conversation is even happening — the fact that citizen-led projects beginning as weekend prototypes are at might be able to compete with commercial products — demonstrates just how much potential these events have to create value and serve as a new form of participation.”

Hackathons jumpstart change. These events build relationships between disciplines, mine data for new useful content, develop new technology approaches, create economic value, propel STEM education, provide prototypes for experimentation – often at a much lower cost than other more traditional approaches.